Snap fastener



April 6 1948. H. E. HASENZAHL 2,439,000

SNAP FASTENER Filed Aug. 5, 1944 IN VEN TOR HERBERT E. H SENZAHL BY ORNEY Patenten! Apr. 6, 1948 Herbert E. Huexinlxl, Southbrldge, Mass., aseiner to Amerioan Optlcal Oompany, Southlll'lll:l\ill I voluntuy assoclation o! Massaelnuet Appllcation 1mm s, 1944, smu N0. 548.185 4 cum. (01. 24-211) This inventlon relates to an improveme'nt in the design 01 snap fasteners, with particular reference to a novel construction permitting the use ofplastic materlals.

One of the princil al obiects of i;he invention is to provide a. simple ea.sily fabricated snap tast r w i be qulckly und easily assembled with the article with which lt is 1:0 be used.

Another ohject o! the inventiou is to provide a. simple design Ior seid snap fastener which will permit the use oi v. plastic material in its cousizruction.

Another obleci: o: the inventlon is to provide a design ior a. snap fastener, whereby metal parts will be completely eliminated.

Another object o: the inventlon ls to provide a. snap iastener 013 e. plastlc material which will be streng am! durable. 4

Other objects anal advanizages of the lnventiou will become apparent trom the i!ollowlng description taten in connectiou with i;he accompanying drawings. It will be apparent thai: many changes may be made in the details 01 construction, arrangement o! parts and methods shown und described withoui; departing i'rom the spirii: 01 the invention as expressed in the aecompanylng claims. I. thereiore do not wish to be limlted to the exa.ct details of constructlon, errangemeni; of parts und methods shown and descrlbed, a.s the preierred forms only have been given by wa.y 01 illustration.

Snap i'asteners ior use in holding together iswo pieces o! flexible materig such es oloth, fabrics, leather, rubber etc. a.nd more particularly tr closing the tlaps 01' verious types of flexible cases am not new in the art. In the past. however, auch devices have been desizned to be coustructed oi' metal.

Receni: devel0pments luwe made lt increasingly diiflcult to obtaiu metal for usesot this nature, wherea.s developments in the 1'leld of plastics have made available new plastic materials. which by means oi. changes in design can be substituted Ior metal in izhe constructlon 0i' snap fasteners.

Developments in the manutacture ot Plastics ha.ve macle lt possible 1:0 fabricaize small parts 01 plastlc materia.ls rapidly und economlcally.

It is therei'orethe principal object o! this invention to provide a. simple deslgn o: a map fastene: which may be easily -fabricated o! plasflc materials und which may be quidfly und easassembled with the article with which it is tobeuaed.

Reierringto the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a. plan view of the snap iastener shown in assembled relation with e. flexible spectacle case. Flg. 2 is an. exploded perspectlve view oi.' the separate parts which mute up the inventlon.

Flg.3 is a. Ir'a.gmentary sectional view taken on line 3I o1 Fix. 1, -'and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referrlhg more partictilarly to the drawing wherein like characters ofxreference designate like parts throughout the several iriews. the device embodying the lnvention is comprised broadly oi' four separate parts, namely, the male part 4 which is adal tisd to be attached i:o i:he body portlon 5 of a spectacle case or the like 6, a temale pari. l which is adapted to Tue attached to the flap hortion 8 ofthe spectacle case 6, und a. cap member 9 und a collar member III which are adapted to be used tor securing the male member 4 and i'emale member l to the spectacle esse 6.

The male mem-ber 4 is proVided with a cylindrica.l portion n which is adapted. m extend through the material ot the body portion B of the spectacle case 8, und haea Hanse I2 in spaced relation witl1 the encl 20 of the cylindrical portion which is adapted to overlida a side suri'ace of the body portion i. The cylindrical portion H will extend through und beyond the opposed surtace 01 the material und is adapted to receive the collar lil, which will ove rlie the opposed surfa.ce 015 the material und when secured by cementor the like to the cylindrical portion will securely.clamp the material between. the flange I2 a.nd the (toller III.

The male member -l ls provided with a bulblike connecting pb ttion II, extending from the flange I2 in opposed relatiqu to the cylindrical portion I I.

Portion thai; extends through the material ma.y

be sea.ted, the parts are then Sl11'8d together by means o! cement or the like. The materialof the fla.p will thus be held securely between the cap member 9 and the fla.nge i! of the Iemale part. The temale part l is proVided with a hollow the inner circumierentiel edzeot the bare et the flange end thereoi'.

'I'he flange II is provided witb. iour slots i! equelly speced eboutits circumierenee end extending inwerdly to the hollow bare I'I. 'Ihe slots i9 are edaptedto be cut tlii'oiigh the dann only. This permits the i'ienge' II o! the iemale pert i to expand enough to permit the bulb-like portion I3 01 the male Part l to be inserted into the hollow bore i'l when the male end iemale parts are to be connected. 'Iliis is necessary because of the fact thet the diemeter o! the bulblike portion II is gres.ter then the diameter o! the hollow bare I'I et the tiengeend thereoi, due to the eircumieriantiel beed I l extending invirardly o! thefnore. It will thus be seen that throuzh the resiliency of the meteriel, that the bulb-like portion I3 of the male pert l mey be received end held secureiy within the hollow bare 'I'I o! the femele pert l, when the spectecle cese er the like is to be closed.

It is to be understood thet the verious perts l, l,

9 end Hi are formed oif a piastic' material such es cellulose ecetate, cellulose nitrate ertiticiel resins 01' the 1ike end may be mechined to the shepes desired er injectiou molded to seid shept'es depending upon the nature 01' the materials used. I1; is perticulerly poiuted out that the materiem must; be such es to permit their being adh isively united. The seid perts may also be heated to cause the contiguous surfa'ce thereoi to unite with an integral band. Suitable solvents may also be used.

From the toregoing description, it will be seen th et thi-s inventiou embodie; e simple design. capable ot beim; tabricated out cf plestic materials, which may be.eesily end economicelly menufectured end assembled.

Heving described .my invention, I claim:

1. A deviee ofthe charecter descri bed oomprising a male fastener element end a. femele iastener element. seid female elementbeing tormed of flexible non-metallic materiel end oomprising a portion being oi' e diemeter lese than thet of the bore 01 the tubule'r body portion end less than the diameter of the male festener element to be 'usea therewith, fieid flanged portion heving a plurality of spaced redielly disposed slots extending from seid opening outwardly through seid flanged portion to the peripherel edge thereot end with the depth 01 seid slots being conflned to the thickness o! seid flgnged portion whereby the flexibiiity of the materiel of the tienged'portion intermediete seid redielly disposed slots will permit the diameter of the central opening df seid flen ged portion to be expended suiilcie1itly to receive the male fastener element end to firmly clesp end meintein.the male fastener element therein, the sidewalls o! seid body portion' being uninterrupted by seid slots.

2. A device of tlie cherecter described compris-' ing a. male fastener element end a femele 1'est'ener flexible, noia-meteliic meteriei end eohiprigiac e tufbular body prtion ot e 1'enzth suflciehtio extend through a pertoretion iormed in the weil 01 an artide with which seid deviee i e to be used seid tubule'r body portion having eontinuous eolid sidewells end an integral i'.langed portion 01 nenmetellk: meterial et one end thereoi, the flanud portion heving e eentrel opening eommunicafllil with the bore 01 the tubuler body portion end being edepted to overlyingiy ensse e side suriace 01 the welle! the article when the tubular bot! portion is positi0ned within the perioration, seid opening in the flenged portion beim oi. a diameter lese then that 01 the bore of the i:ubuler bod? portion end less then thet 01 the male iastener element to be used therewith. seid iienzed portion hevins a plurality et speced redielly disposed slots extending irom seid 'opening outwerdly through seid flanged portion to the periphere! edge thereot end with the depth of seid glots beim conflned to the thickness o1 seid flenzed portion whereby the flexibility 01 the material 01 the flanged portion intermediete seid redially disposed slots will permit the diemeter o! the central opening o! seid flensed Portion to be expended auflicientiy to receive the male fastenter element. the sidewells of the body portion heilig uninterrupted by seid slots, end e cap member 01 non-metellic 1 meterial adapted to be secured i;o the opposed end cf the body portiou end to overlyingly ansage the opposed side suriace of the weil 01' the artic le.

3. A device o! the charecter described comprising e male fastener element end e temele element, seid iemale element being idrm d o! flexible. non-metallic material end comprising a tubuler body portion extendinz through a perforation formed in the weil of an article, seid tubuler body portion being 01' such an externe] dimension es to substantially fill seid perforetion in the well. seid body portiou having continuous .solid sidewells end an integral flexised Portion formed 01 non'-metellic materiel et one end thereoi end a cap member securea to the opp0sed end thereof, seid flanged portiou end cap memher heving inner surfece portions in engagement with adjacent opposed sidesuri'aces 0f the Wall of the article, seid flanzed Portion being formed with a central opening communic'ating with the bare cf the tubular body portion. end with seid opening being 015 e diemeter less then thatof the bare of the tubular body portion end lass than that of the male fastener elenient to be used therewith, seid flanged portion haVing-a plurality o1 speced redielly disposed slots extending irom seid opening outwerdly through seid flanged portion to the peripheral edgethereoi end with the depth of seid slots being limited to the thickness of seid flanged portion whereby the flexibility of the non-metallic. meteriel of the flanged Portion intermediate seid radially disposed slots will permit the diameter of the central opening of seid flanged portion to be expanded suflciently to receiv the male festener elemant, the sidewslls of the body portion being uninterrupted bysid slots.

prising e male fastener element end a femele fastener element.- seid femele element being formed o f flexible, non-metallic meterial end comprising a tubuler body portion extending through a perforation formed in the weil 01 an article with which seid device is te be used, seid tubular body portion being of such a widi;h es tosubstantielly 1111 said'perforation in the weil,

element, seid female element Dein: iorme d o! seid body p'ortion' heving' contihuous solid eide- 4. A de vice '0f the charecter described com- Walls anden integral flanged portion o! nonmetallic material on one end thereof, said fianzed portion having a centra1 opening co'mmunicating with the bore 01 the tubu1ar body portion und ha.ving portions. in overlying engagetnent with a side surface o1 the wall 01 the article, the opening in said fiax 1ged portion being of a. diameter 1ess than that o! the bore of the tubular body portion and lass than that of the male fastener element to be used therewith, said fianged portion having a plurality o1 spa.ced radially disposed slots extending froxn said opening outwardly through said flanged portion with the depth thereof being limlted to the thickness o1! said flanged portion whereby the flexibility o1 the flanged por tion intermediate sa.id radially disposed slots will permit the diameter cf the central open1ng of said flanged portion to be expanded suflicienflv to receive the male fastener element and to cause the walls cf the opening in seid flanged portion to firmly cla.sp and retain the male fastener element there1n, the sidewalls o1 said body portion being uninterrupted by said slots, seid tubular body portion being of a length suflicient to extem l through the Wall of the art1c1e, and a capmemher cf non-metallic material integrally sieeured. to the opposed end of said tubula;i"body portion through the co-mingling of the materia1s of the' cap member and body portion, said cap member hav1ng portigns in overlying engagement with the other side surface of the Wall.

HERBERT E. HASENZAI-IL.

REFERENCES CITED 'Ihe Io1lowing references are of reco'rd in the file of this patent:

UNITED STA'I'ES PATENTS 2,189995 Reiter Feb. 13, 1940 

